That’s what legends are made of.
IIHF.com: Homecoming King
Sep 03, 2010 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
HELSINKI – Hockey is a game where you have to be at the right place at the right time. That is what makes a great goal scorer. And great scorers are always sought after in hockey. But sometimes, as a player happens to be at the right place at the right time in the rink, he’s also very much at the right place at the right time outside it.
That’s what legends are made of.
Cont.
That’s what legends are made of.
IIHF.com: Vatanen races to the top
Mar 06, 2010 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
JYP’s 18-year-old defenceman breaks rookie record in Finland.
JYVÄSKYLÄ, Finland – Finland, like many European nations, seems to fall into despair with regular intervals. The past, looking back, always so glorious, and the future, unknown and scary. Sure, the Finnish national team came home - in a figure of speech as only three players returned to Helsinki airport after the tournament, and all three had connecting flights to catch - with a bronze medal, but who can Teemu Selänne, Saku Koivu, Sami Salo, Kimmo Timonen, Jere Lehtinen, and Ville Peltonen pass the torch to?
Cont.
JYVÄSKYLÄ, Finland – Finland, like many European nations, seems to fall into despair with regular intervals. The past, looking back, always so glorious, and the future, unknown and scary. Sure, the Finnish national team came home - in a figure of speech as only three players returned to Helsinki airport after the tournament, and all three had connecting flights to catch - with a bronze medal, but who can Teemu Selänne, Saku Koivu, Sami Salo, Kimmo Timonen, Jere Lehtinen, and Ville Peltonen pass the torch to?
IIHF.com: Nobody does it better
Jan 09, 2010 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
All-time record seals Janne Ojanen’s place in Finnish hockey history.
TAMPERE – All-time records can be double-edged swords. On one hand, they are the true testament to the player’s impact to the sport, and a proof of excellence over a long period of time. On the other, they also often get dismissed because the player in question, the one breaking the record, is almost without exception not the same player as he was in his prime. (Martin Brodeur may be an exception.)
Cont.
TAMPERE – All-time records can be double-edged swords. On one hand, they are the true testament to the player’s impact to the sport, and a proof of excellence over a long period of time. On the other, they also often get dismissed because the player in question, the one breaking the record, is almost without exception not the same player as he was in his prime. (Martin Brodeur may be an exception.)
Cont.
IIHF.com: An artist arrives
Dec 12, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
HELSINKI – This is exactly the way it wasn’t supposed to be. Jokerit Helsinki had announced that, having had first Doug Shedden and then Glen Hanlon behind the bench, and a string of failed imports on the roster – and several superstars, like Glen Metropolit, and Tim Thomas – this season, they would be an all-Finnish team.
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Granlund sues Kärpät
Jul 12, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
OULU, Finland – It’s been an eventful six months for Mikael Granlund, 17. First, the memorable debut in the Finnish SM-liiga with Kärpät Oulu, then a one-man strike due to “contractual reasons”, then signing with HIFK Helsinki, back to play the junior playoffs with Kärpät, the World U18 Championship, and now, the decision to sue Kärpät Oulu to get a court’s decision on the “junior contract” that he had with Kärpät.
The club says the four-year junior contract Granlund signed in 2007, as a 14-year-old, is a valid contract. The Granlund camp says that it can’t be valid because no real compensation is determined.
Cont.
The club says the four-year junior contract Granlund signed in 2007, as a 14-year-old, is a valid contract. The Granlund camp says that it can’t be valid because no real compensation is determined.
Cont.
JYP front and center
Apr 14, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
From IIHF.com: It had been decades in the making, and 17 years since the club’s last shot at the title, but now, the wait is over. JYP, Jyväskylä, is the SM-liiga champion in 2009, after sweeping the reigning champion, Oulu Kärpät, in the final.
Cont.
Cont.
IIHF.com: Kärpät
Apr 09, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
Here's a little something that the New York Times Slapshot blog called "a fascinating article."
Kärpät’s dynasty still alive
Sixth final in seven years may be the club's most impressive feat.
Cont.
Kärpät’s dynasty still alive
Sixth final in seven years may be the club's most impressive feat.
Cont.
From boy to man
Mar 21, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
Mikael Granlund is to Finland what John Tavares is to Canada and Victor Hedman to Sweden. He’s the promise of a better tomorrow, in the midst of all the financial worries and a doom and gloom prophecies all around. He’s the future of Finnish hockey, he’s the outlier, a scoring phenom in a country of goalies.
In short: he’s The Next One.
Cont.
In short: he’s The Next One.
Cont.
Riskman
Mar 21, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
Jokerit goaltender Juuso Riksman was voted MVP of the SM-liiga regular season, by Finnish hockey media. Riksman’s save percentage 94.37 was the best in the league, and his goals against average, 1.76, second, behnd JYP’s Sinuhe Wallinheimo (1.68).
IIHF.com: JYP
Mar 04, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
JYP the team to beat
Jyväskylä team grabbed top spot in October, and never let go.
JYVÄSKYLÄ, Finland – It had been six years since JYP Jyväskylä had beaten Ilves in Tampere, and 17 years since the team finished the regular season on top of the standings, but on Tuesday night, both streaks came to an end. With a 7-2 rout over Ilves, JYP also secured the Finnish SM-liiga regular season title with one game remaining.
Cont.
Jyväskylä team grabbed top spot in October, and never let go.
JYVÄSKYLÄ, Finland – It had been six years since JYP Jyväskylä had beaten Ilves in Tampere, and 17 years since the team finished the regular season on top of the standings, but on Tuesday night, both streaks came to an end. With a 7-2 rout over Ilves, JYP also secured the Finnish SM-liiga regular season title with one game remaining.
Cont.
Down to the wire
Feb 28, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
The Finnish SM-liiga comes down to the wire next week, and the race to the regular season title is still wide open. With two games remaining, the top of the standings looks like this:
1. JYP 100 points
2. KalPa 97
3. Jokerit 96
4. HPK 95
5. Kärpät 94
6. Blues 91
KalPa has improved its record with 45 points from last season when it finished 13th in the 14-team league.
1. JYP 100 points
2. KalPa 97
3. Jokerit 96
4. HPK 95
5. Kärpät 94
6. Blues 91
KalPa has improved its record with 45 points from last season when it finished 13th in the 14-team league.
The pantheon of Finnish hockey
Feb 13, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
About a month ago, the Finnish “Hall of Fame”, the Hockey Museum, announced its new crop of “Hockey Lions”, the equivalent of being inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame, or the IIHF Hall of Fame. A big honor, in other words, and a recognition of a job well done for Finnish hockey.
Cont.
Cont.
The week in Finland
Feb 13, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
A roundup of the week that was.
- While outdoor games are all the craze in the world, Finnish SM-liiga teams Ässät, Pori and Lukko, Rauma, are taking it one step further, by staging an exhibition game...
Cont.
Band of brothers
Jan 26, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
JYP made Finnish hockey history by icing a line of brothers in its game against SaiPa. Tuomo Jormakka, 28, and his brothers, Kaarlo, 20, and Pekka, 18, were the first brothers to play in line in the SM-liiga.
In SM-liiga’s predecessor, Finnish SM-sarja, had seen brothers on the same line in the 1930s - with five Tiitola brothers on Ilves roster -, 1960s - Pulli brothers with KooVee, and 1970s when the Hakanen brothers led the Ilves attack. The SM-liiga was founded in 1975.
In SM-liiga’s predecessor, Finnish SM-sarja, had seen brothers on the same line in the 1930s - with five Tiitola brothers on Ilves roster -, 1960s - Pulli brothers with KooVee, and 1970s when the Hakanen brothers led the Ilves attack. The SM-liiga was founded in 1975.
IIHF.com: League CEO drops the gloves in Finland
Jan 26, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
Frustrated by a recent article about fighting, SM-liiga CEO Vuorinen lashed back.
HELSINKI – It happens every year, and every year, the arc of the drama is similar. Something extraordinary happens in a game (read:fight), somebody comments on it in a big paper, different (but always the same) arguments fly back and forth, and then the discussions peters out, and nothing ever changes.
Cont.
HELSINKI – It happens every year, and every year, the arc of the drama is similar. Something extraordinary happens in a game (read:fight), somebody comments on it in a big paper, different (but always the same) arguments fly back and forth, and then the discussions peters out, and nothing ever changes.
Cont.
Bloody mess
Jan 24, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
Back in 2001, six Finnish cross country skiers tested positive for the use of Hemohes, a plasma expander, in the Lahti World Championships, earning suspensions to both the skiers and the coaches.
Head coach Kari-Pekka Kyrö has been on a quixotic battle ever since, to prove how widely spread the use of doping is, and he has in his previous interviews said that the entire Finnish federation was behind the scheme.
Cont.
Head coach Kari-Pekka Kyrö has been on a quixotic battle ever since, to prove how widely spread the use of doping is, and he has in his previous interviews said that the entire Finnish federation was behind the scheme.
Cont.
All-time Ojanen
Jan 13, 2009 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
Back in the 1990s, it seemed certain that many of the European all-time records would never be broken. The top players disappeared to the NHL, giving the stars of the yesteryear an advantage.
But these days, players have longer careers, way into their forties, and they play more games in a season, tilting the advantage back to them.
Cont.
But these days, players have longer careers, way into their forties, and they play more games in a season, tilting the advantage back to them.
Cont.
IIHF.com: The kid’s alright
Dec 09, 2008 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
There may not be an “I” in Teemu, but the Finnish prodigy can score.
Who wouldn’t have wanted to be there when Wayne Gretzky stormed through the Canadian junior league, scoring 378 goals (adding 120 assists) in 85 games as a 11-year-old, or in the WHA when he was still called “the Kid” (because he was).
Cont.
Who wouldn’t have wanted to be there when Wayne Gretzky stormed through the Canadian junior league, scoring 378 goals (adding 120 assists) in 85 games as a 11-year-old, or in the WHA when he was still called “the Kid” (because he was).
Cont.
Raipe to the rafters
Dec 05, 2008 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
Ilves, Tampere lifted Raimo Helminen’s number 41 to the rafters last week, making him the sixth player in the club history to have his jersey number retired.
Helminen played 331 games with the Finnish national team, collecting 52+155=207 points, and winning the World Championship in 1995, as well as, one Olympic silver medal, one Olympic bronze medal, four World Championship silver medals, and a World Championship bronze.
An amazing career, and an amazing player.
Ilves's other retired jerseys belong to the late Jarmo Wasama (2), Aarne Honkavaara (7), Jorma Peltonen (16), Lasse Oksanen (14, Helminen's old number, too), and Risto Jalo (13).
Helminen played 331 games with the Finnish national team, collecting 52+155=207 points, and winning the World Championship in 1995, as well as, one Olympic silver medal, one Olympic bronze medal, four World Championship silver medals, and a World Championship bronze.
An amazing career, and an amazing player.
Ilves's other retired jerseys belong to the late Jarmo Wasama (2), Aarne Honkavaara (7), Jorma Peltonen (16), Lasse Oksanen (14, Helminen's old number, too), and Risto Jalo (13).
Welcome to Finland
Dec 05, 2008 by RistoP | Comment here | SM-liiga | Send to a buddy
Officially, there’s never been any restrictions to how many non-Finns the Finnish SM-liiga teams are allowed to use. However, unofficially, there have been different kinds of restrictions – “gentlemen’s agreements” - over the years, as to how many imports the team can ice, regardless of their nationality.
Cont.
Cont.